Messenger - Vol. 2, No. 2, Page 11 Winter 1993 On Campus Agricultural biotechnology center planned Ground will be broken in the fall for a new $7 million agricultural biotechnology center to be located east of Townsend Hall on the Newark campus, pending approval from a visiting U.S. Department of Agriculture team. If approved, the federal government may provide up to 50 percent of the cost of construction, with the remainder to be raised from the private sector. The biotechnology center would be the first building on campus to have bio-containment laboratories specifically designed for agricultural work in microbiology and molecular biosciences. The 15,067-square-foot building also will include three small offices, a seminar room that will hold up to 50 people and animal rooms. The primary users of the new center would be faculty from the College of Agricultural Sciences who may work in collaboration with industry and government researchers. According to John Rosenberger, chairperson of the Department of Animal Science and Agricultural Biochemistry, major emphasis would be placed on poultry disease research and vaccine development, but researchers from other academic units in the University would be encouraged to use the facilities. With a $50,000 planning grant from the state, the preliminary building design and assessment of building and operating costs were developed by a committee made up of representatives from the University, the poultry industry and government. The committee's recommendations were made to the University administration in the spring of 1992, and in December, the Board of Trustees endorsed the need for a biotechnology laboratory at the University. To obtain federal support, the college submitted a proposal to a competitive program administered by USDA's Cooperative States Research Services. Evaluation of the proposal includes a site visit by the USDA review team. If the proposal is accepted, the center will be recommended for funding to the U.S. Senate for the 1993-94 fiscal year. If funded, the biotechnology center is expected to be completed by January 1995.